Players came from as far away as Chattanooga and Cookeville to participate.

“We had people from all over, so we were more than pleased,” Capozzi said. “Everybody really enjoyed it. The big thing was when can we have the next one.”

Capozzi said the first tournament was held in November 2002. He attributed the long gap between tournaments to challenges that arose in his personal life.

“For about six years I stopped playing,” he said. “I was kind of pushing the program and I had a heart attack and a few things happened to me. I got back in it about two years ago and now we started up again.”

Capozzi said he doesn't anticipate an eight-year gap between the second and third tournaments. He said table tennis is a popular game, and word-of-mouth makes it easy to attract players.

“We're definitely going to have another one,” Capozzi said. “It's not going to be hard because there's such a large interest. Not only did we have people from all over, but from all ethnic groups – Russian, Chinese, Caucasian, African-American, Korean. We had just about every group represented.”

Anyone interested in the game is welcome to join the Kingston Table Tennis Club. Capozzi said they play each Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m. at the community center on Patton Ferry Road.

“They don't need a reservation or anything like that,” Capozzi said. “They can just walk in.”

Capozzi said he's seen novice turn into good players.

“Some of them that come in have never played before and the next thing you know they become some of the best players around,” he said.